


(Not) Letting It Go

by 27dragons



Series: Tumblr Prompts [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Chess, Getting Together, Grooming, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 18:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11674983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27dragons/pseuds/27dragons
Summary: Bucky and Tony need to do something about their mutual crushes, or just let them go.Neither one of them are very good at letting anything go.





	(Not) Letting It Go

**Author's Note:**

> This was a sort of reverse prompt fill for [this beautiful art](http://beir.tumblr.com/post/163610579388/) from beir on tumblr, in that they made the art and I asked what the story was behind it, and the response was basically the equivalent of ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> So I wrote this, just so I'd have SOME kind of story to go with it. :D

Just because Bucky’s eyes were on Tony didn’t mean he didn’t know that  _Steve’s_ eyes were on  _him_. “Let it go, Rogers,” he advised as soon as the elevator doors closed, hiding Tony from view.

“I’m not allowed to be worried about you?” Steve asked, impossibly hurt.

“Worry all you want,” Bucky said, barely restraining himself from growling it. “But I’ve got this covered.”

“I just don’t think you know what you’re getting into,” Steve said, because when in his damn life had Rogers ever been able to keep his mouth shut?

“It’s just a crush,” Bucky said, finally acknowledging the elephant in the room. “I know he’s way outta my league; I ain’t about to humiliate myself by actually  _saying_ anything to him.”

“Hey now, that’s my best friend you’re slandering there,” Steve said, more serious than joking. “It’s just that his life is very… public.”

And that Bucky was very  _not_  went blessedly unsaid. He ghosted around the Tower in bare feet and slouchy, comfortable clothes. He hadn’t had a haircut since the closed hearings that had exonerated him of the Winter Soldier’s crimes; he only shaved when the itching became unbearable, and even then as fast and sloppily as he could get away with. He was pretty much the complete opposite of  _ready for prime time_.

***

“Shit or get off the pot,” Rhodey said, well into his fourth (or was it the fifth?) cup of sake and tipsy enough to be utterly done with diplomacy. “It’s embarrassing, watching you pine after the man. I am embarrassed  _for you_. Ask him out, or let it go.”

Tony resolved, for the millionth time, never to drink with Rhodey again. “He’ll just laugh in my face, platypus,” he whined. “I’ve never been so outclassed.”

“Not true,” Rhodey said, and Tony had an instant to feel the warmth of affection for his friend before Rhodey continued, “Pepper outclassed you so bad you had to go back to preschool, man. Since when has that ever stopped you from going after what you want?”

Tony slumped further into his chair. “It took me  _years_  to work up the nerve to ask Pepper out,” he pointed out.

“And I ain’t going through that again,” Rhodey said. “I’m getting too old to drink with you like this on a regular basis. So you gotta ask yourself: are you going to let him go?”

“No,” Tony said, because even the thought of it made his heart flutter in panic.

“Then you know what you gotta do.” Rhodey slammed back the rest of his sake with an air of finality, as if it proved his point.

***

Bucky ran into Tony in the kitchen – almost literally, as Tony came shuffling through the doorway, bleary-eyed and disheveled. His hair was tousled and unkempt, his eyes were red and bleary, his usually perfectly-sculpted goatee was softened by a day’s worth of dark stubble, and his immaculately-tailored suits had been replaced with a grease-smeared tee and jeans so worn they looked as soft as flannel and so baggy they looked one good shimmy away from falling off his hips.

Bucky nearly stumbled over himself trying not to bump into Tony and knock them both over, and wound up grabbing at the side of the fridge to keep his balance. “Shit, sorry,” he managed before wanting to curse and swallow his tongue. He had it so bad that even in the throes of a hangover, Tony made him ache with longing.

Tony blinked at him. Looked behind him – there was no one there – then blinked again. He looked down, rubbed at his throat, and took a deep breath. “You want to go out with me sometime?” he asked. It came out too fast, pushed out all at once along with all the air in his lungs, and for a frozen moment, Bucky didn’t understand.

[ ](http://beir.tumblr.com/post/163610579388/letting-it-go)

And then he did, and that was almost  _worse_. Bucky was wearing  fuzzy Captain America pajama bottoms and plushie Hulk slippers and nothing else, and he hadn’t shaved for almost a week and his hair was a nasty, greasy tangle because he hadn’t been able to make himself walk into the shower stall for a couple of days, and  _this_  was what Tony was asking out?

No. No, and no. Bucky became aware that he was still holding on to the fridge. Was, in fact, all but holding himself up with that grip. Carefully, he let it go, and straightened. “I have to go,” he stammered. “Do. Something.”

He all but fled the kitchen, and just because he couldn’t bring himself to look in Tony’s direction didn’t mean that he was unaware of Sam and Natasha watching him go from their spot by the window where they’d been playing chess.

It didn’t matter. Steve would have what he needed.

***

“So… I guess that’s a no,” Tony observed to the empty room as Bucky disappeared. He took a breath, slow and careful, because too much movement would jostle his aching heart. Calling it  _broken_  would probably be stretching the truth – it wasn’t like he’d never been rejected before, and he’d known it was a long shot from the start – but it definitely stung.

Natasha came into the kitchen as he was regrouping, and that was okay. Natasha could see through his masks with remarkable accuracy anyway, so having caught him without one up, that was… acceptable. He couldn’t let anyone else see, though, of course. That was the point of having masks, after all. Tony rubbed at his face – he needed a shave in the worst way.

Natasha slid a cup of coffee across the counter toward him, black and sweet, just the way he liked it. “Smooth,” she said, with a curve of smile.

“Ug, you saw the whole thing, didn’t you?”

“Not saw, but heard,” she admitted. “For what it’s worth, I think he’ll be back.”

“Sure he will,” Tony agreed easily, not believing a word of it.

“Come and play chess with me,” Natasha said. “Sam is useless.”

“Don’t play her for money, Stark,” Sam called. “She’s some kind of creepy chess savant.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “I told you, chess is Russia’s national pastime.”

Tony grinned. “Best out of three buys the loser dinner?” he offered.

Her smile got wider. “You’re on.”

With Natasha’s skill and expertise stacked against Tony’s literal genius, it made for an interesting match. They were running head-to-head on the third game, and Tony was stalling, because every path he considered was breaking on a check if not a ‘mate, and he was  _sure_  he could pull it out if he could just figure out how. He dimly registered the elevator’s ding, but didn’t look up from the board until Natasha reached over and gently tipped over his king.

Tony looked up at her, startled. “What?”

“I win,” she said, and nodded over his shoulder. He twisted to look, and nearly fell out of his chair.

Bucky was… dressed. Not in fuzzy pajamas or comfortable sweats but in criminally tight slacks that showed off the amazing thighs Tony might have spent a few nights dreaming about. In a figure-hugging shirt and a jacket that showcased his shoulders. He’d pulled his hair back into a neat bun and shaved so close that Tony’s fingers itched to touch, to find out if it was as smooth as it looked. The sort of close you could only get from a straight razor, and damn if that wasn’t an amazing mental image. And his eyes…

[ ](http://beir.tumblr.com/post/163610579388/letting-it-go)

Bucky’s eyes were locked on Tony, wide and hopeful.

“Dinner’s on you,” Natasha said, and Tony didn’t have to look to know she was smirking. “But I think I’ll pass.”

Bucky bit his lip, which was just unfair, and extended a hand. “If… if that offer’s still open?” he said.

Tony took Bucky’s hand before it could draw back. “Yes,” he said quickly. “Yes.” He laced their fingers together carefully. This time, he promised, he wasn’t letting go.

**Author's Note:**

> Credit for the art goes to [beir](http://beir.tumblr.com/post/163610579388/). You can find me on tumblr, too, where I am also [27dragons](http://27dragons.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
